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Giro d'Italia: Alberto Contador dislocates shoulder in stage six fall

Decision to be made on Friday on whether to continue racing

Alberto Contador, Giro d'Italia 2015, stage six
Image: Alberto Contador suffered a dislocated shoulder on stage six

Alberto Contador's Giro d'Italia campaign is hanging in the balance after the race leader dislocated his left shoulder in a heavy crash at the end on stage six on Thursday.

The favourite for overall victory fell at high speed 250m from the finish line in Castiglione della Pescaia when a spectator's camera lens appeared to clip Italian sprinter Daniele Colli, causing him to crash and bring down around 15 other riders.

Contador remounted his bike and finished the stage but later revealed that his shoulder had dislocated twice - once at the time of the crash and then again just before the podium ceremony around 10 minutes later.

He will now make a decision on whether continue at the race on Friday morning ahead of the 264km seventh stage.

Alberto Contador after stage six of the 2015 Giro d'Italia
Image: Contador couldn't raise his arm to pull on the pink jersey

He told reporters: "There was a dislocation [of the shoulder] from when I fell. I got up, my shoulder was dislocated and, acting on instinct, I popped it back in. I was scared because I thought I had broken my collarbone, which I have never broken in my life. Then, when we were at the foot of the podium, it [the shoulder] came out again."

In a team statement, Contador added: "The doctors have recommended that I immobilise my left arm during the evening and night, while I try to move it a bit with the help of my other arm to promote the movement of the shoulder. I will focus on this until tomorrow before the stage, where the doctors will come back to put on a layer of bandage for the race.

"I will try to start tomorrow on stage seven, as I have worked very hard ahead of the Giro. I will try to continue until the very last moment. I'm optimistic about the start tomorrow, but we have to wait until right before the start to see what happens and how serious the effect of the crash is."

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Contador was given the same time as the rest of the peloton on the day due to the fact the crash happened inside the final 3km, meaning that he remains two seconds ahead of second-placed Fabio Aru (Astana) and 20 seconds in front of third-placed Richie Porte (Team Sky) - both of whom avoided the crash - at the top of the general classification.

Andre Greipel wins stage six of the 2015 Giro d'Italia
Image: Andre Greipel sprinted to victory on the stage

However, his hopes of becoming the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win both the Giro and Tour de France in the same year are now in serious jeopardy.

Stage six was won by Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), who comfortably out-sprinted runner-up Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) and third-placed Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) to claim the third Giro stage win of his career and first since 2010.

Greipel said: "It was really like we planned. I didn't go too early and I am really thankful to my team-mates. I am really happy for this victory."

Stage six result

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, 4:19:42

2 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling, same time

3 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st

4 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast, st

5 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing, st

6 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Southeast, st

7 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, st

8 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Giant-Alpecin, st

9 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, st

10 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, st

General classification

1 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, 20:25:43

2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +2secs

3 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, +20secs

4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo, +22

5 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana, +28

6 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +37

7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, +56

8 Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana, +1:01

9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin, +1:15

10 Andrey Amador (Cos) Movistar, +1:18

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